scholarly journals Myxomycete diversity on Cryptomeria japonica bark varies with land-use type along montane rivers

Karstenia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 30-45
Author(s):  
Kazunari Takahashi

Myxomycetes occur globally, but little is known about the mechanism by which myxomycete diversity and community structure respond to environmental gradients and human activity at local scales. The present study assessed the distribution of corticolous myxomycetes living on the bark of <em>Cryptomeria japonica</em> trees along three rivers originating in the Chugoku Mountains in western Japan. Bark samples were collected from 14 sites along each river, which encompass the river sources as well as the upper, middle, and lower reaches. The environmental characteristics of each site were assessed for three variable types: geography, climate, and land-use. A 1 km2 grid was superimposed onto each survey site, consisting of 100 cells of 1 ha each, and each cell was classified using aerial imagery into a broad land-use type. Of these, three land-use types (forest, farmland, and residential) were regularly used as a comprehensive indicator of landscape. The bark samples were cultured using the moist chamber technique, and the resulting myxomycete fruiting bodies were identified. Sporophores formed on 96% of the 1,490 moist chamber cultures and were classified into 27 taxa (26 species and one variety). Species diversity was highest in natural forests near river sources and decreased with proximity to downstream estuaries. Community similarities between survey sites were analysed using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). The first NMDS axis was negatively correlated with distance from estuary and forest coverage. Indicator species were identified for environmental changes along river basins. The relative abundances of <em>Macbrideola argentea</em>, <em>Hemitrichia velutina</em>, and <em>Physarum nutans</em> var. <em>rubrum</em> were positively correlated with forest coverage. In contrast, the relative abundances of <em>Clastoderma debaryanum</em>, <em>Diderma chondrioderma</em>, and <em>Echinostelium minutum</em> were positively correlated with residential area coverage. The distribution of corticolous myxomycetes on C. japonica trees was associated with local landscape changes along the river environments. This is the first report on myxomycetes assemblages along river basins (acting as ecological corridors) and indicates that forest degradation and land-use types strongly affect myxomycete diversity on the bark of living <em>C. japonica</em> trees.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Antunes Pessoa ◽  
Matheus Tenório Baumgartner ◽  
Marcelo Percilio Santana Junior ◽  
João Paulo Alves Pagotto ◽  
Luiz Gustavo Antunes Pessoa ◽  
...  

Abstract The use and occupation of land by human population substantially influence environmental variables and fish assemblage in streams. However, there is little knowledge on how these changes affect the ecomorphological structure of fish assemblage in mesohabitats. Therefore, we aim to assess whether the land-use types affect the ecomorphological structure of fish assemblage in distinct mesohabitats. Environmental and ichthyofaunistic data were collected in three mesohabitats (rifles, runs, and pools) of five rural and five urban streams. Twenty-one ecomorphological indices were obtained from the mean of linear morphological measurements and areas of the fishes. Subsequently, the Euclidean distance was calculated, based on the ecomorphological indices, between each pair of species, to measure the ecomorphological distances for the mesohabitats of the rural and urban streams. The results show that the urban environment is more harmful to streams than the rural one, due to changes in the environmental variables and decrease in species richness. The main environmental changes found in urban streams were the decrease in canopy cover by riparian vegetation and dissolved oxygen, and the increase in electrical conductivity and bed silting. Also, there was a significant decrease in the morphological similarity between fish species in the mesohabitats of urban streams compared to rural ones. Therefore, we can conclude that the urban environment leads to the loss of morphologically similar fish species in the mesohabitats, with only a few functionally distinct species remaining.


Author(s):  
Durga D. Poudel ◽  
Timothy W. Duex ◽  
Roshan Poudel

Drinking water security is increasingly becoming a global concern in recent decades. The mid-hill region of Nepal is also experiencing serious water shortages in recent years. In order to assess the availability of drinking water in the mid-hill regions of Nepal, we studied hydrogeology, land use types and collected water samples from 30 springs in Kavre, Kahmandu Valley, Nuwakot and Tanahu in Nepal between July 17-September 12, 2017. For each sampling spring, while surrounding land use type (mixed, agriculture, urban, vegetation) and spring type (fracture, depression, contact) were determined through field observation, the field pH, conductivity and temperature was determined using relevant probes and thermometers. Water samples were collected in 1L and 165mL plastic bottles for chemical and total coliform determination, respectively, in the lab. Bottles were rinsed twice using spring water before filling them with sample water, then stored in an ice chest, and brought to the lab. In the laboratory, turbidity, conductivity, Ca, Mg, HCO3, SO4, Na, NO3, Cl, Fe, As, and total coliform were determined using standard methods. Spring water in agricultural areas showed significantly higher suspended solids compared to other land use types whereas spring water in urban areas showed significantly higher dissolved substances. By spring type, turbidity and conductivity values and the concentration of dissolved constituents (Ca, Mg, HCO3, SO4, NO3, and Cl) were ranked in the order of fracture < contact < depression. Na and Fe concentration were in the order of fracture = contact < depression. By land-use type, conductivity and dissolved constituents (Ca, Mg, HCO3) were in the order of agriculture < vegetation < mixed < urban. Whereas urban land use had the highest values for SO4, Na, NO3, and Cl, other land use types showed variable order. Fe concentration was ranked in the order of urban < mixed < vegetation < agriculture. Total coliform was in the order of mixed < agriculture < urban < vegetation. These results indicate that land use type and surface condition, which is possibly associated with human activities, heavily affect spring water properties in the region. These results suggest that drinking water security of mid-hill region of Nepal is threatened heavily due to poor spring water quality. Protection of drinking water sources should be specific to land use type and activities around the springs. Index Terms— three to six pertinent, specific to the paper, keywords added after the abstract, separated by commas.


Author(s):  
Mesfin Kassa ◽  
Wassie Haile ◽  
fassile kebede

Quantity-intensity characteristics are among conventional approaches for studying potassium dynamics and its availability; this was assessed to determine availability in four districts: namely, Sodo Zuria, Damot Gale, Damot Sore, and Boloso Sore at three different land use type viz., enset-coffee, crop land, and grazing land. There was water soluble, ammonium acetate, nitric acid extractable potassium, exchangeable potassium, and non-exchangeable potassium studied in soil samples, which were collected from 0-20 cm depth of each land type. The study revealed that water soluble and ammonium acetate extractable potassium concentrations ranged from 0.04 to 0.42 cmolKg-1 soils enset-coffee and grazing land use types, respectively. The study showed that exchangeable potassium constituted the highest proportion of available potassium, while the proportion of water soluble potassium was found to be the lowest. In this study, non-exchangeable potassium concentrations varied from 0.10 to 0.04cmolKg-1soils for enset-coffee, and crop and grazing land use type. Furthermore, available potassium and exchangeable potassium concentrations were positively correlated with OC(r=0.95***), cation exchange capacity, and sand and clay(r=0.98***). In addition, the K dynamics as impacted by land use types found that the highest change in exchangeable potassium (0.31cmolkg-1soils) and potential buffering capacity (1.79cmolkg-1soils) were noted in crop land use types, whereas the lowest change(1.26cmolkg-1 soils) was observed in the enset-coffee system, The varying properties, potassium status, dynamic and land use type of soils identified in the study areas provided adequate information to design soil potassium management options and further research about the soil in each site. Therefore, application of site specific soil fertility management practices and research can improve soil potassium status and quantity intensity parameters to sustain crop productive soils.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiao-Jiao Han ◽  
Xu Duan ◽  
Yang-Yi Zhao ◽  
Meng Li

AbstractSoil moisture, stable hydrogen, and oxygen isotopes were sampled and determined in a demonstration area of soil and moisture conservation at the Laocheng Town of Yuanmou County in Chuxiong Prefecture, Yunnan of three land use types: Leucaena Benth artificial forest, Heteropogon contortus grass field, and farmland. The characteristics of stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of soil moisture in these different land use types at different soil depths were analyzed to investigate the regularities in the quantitative formation of soil moisture balance. In terms of forest land, we found that the variable coefficient of hydrogen isotopes in the 0-20 cm soil layer was the smallest, but decreased with depth under 20 cm. While in grassland, the variable coefficient in 80-100 cm was the largest, and decreased with depth above 80 cm. As for farmland, the variable coefficient in the top 20 cm was the largest, followed by 40-60 cm, and the medium 20-40 cm was the smallest. The soil moisture hydrogen isotope values of three land use type were different at surface layer, but prone to be consistent in each type. Along the soil depth in forest land, the hydrogen isotope increased first and then decreased, while increased in the end, and the maximum appeared in 80-100 cm. In grassland, the hydrogen isotope increased initially as the forest land but then decreased continuously, so the maximum was found at 20-40 cm. And in grassland, the hydrogen isotope of all depths were higher than which of forest land and farmland. In same land use type, the hydrogen isotope of soil moisture changed significantly at the surface, and the variation of hydrogen isotopes was obviously decreased along the depth. Our findings could provide reference data which would contribute to the assessment of regional groundwater resources in the dry-hot valley of Yuanmou in this study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Mesfin Kassa Cholbe ◽  
Fassil Kebede Yeme ◽  
Wassie Haile Woldeyohannes

Information on soil fertility status of acid soil of a particular area as affected by land use type is important for developing sound soil management systems for improved and sustainable agricultural productivity. The main objective of this study was to assess the fertility status and effect of land use change on soil physicochemical properties. In this study, adjacent three land use types, namely, enset-coffee, crop, and grazing land use were considered in four districts (i.e., Bolos Sore, Damot Gale, Damot Sore, and Sodo Zuria) of Wolaita Zone, southern Ethiopia. Soil samples were collected from a depth of 0–20 cm from each land use type of the respective districts for physicochemical analyses. The results showed that land use types significantly affected ( P ≤ 0.05 ) soil properties such as bulk density, available P, exchangeable potassium, exchangeable acidity, exchangeable bases (Na, K, Ca, Mg), exchangeable acidity, and CEC. Besides, soil pH, OC, and TN were influenced significantly ( P ≤ 0.05 ) both by districts and land use types. The very strongly acidic soils were found predominantly in the crop and grazing lands whereas a neutral acidity level was found in the enset-coffee land use type of four districts. In conclusion, the study proves that land use type change within the same geographic setting can affect the severity of soil acidity due to over cultivation and rapid organic matter decomposition. Finally, the study recommends an in-depth study and analysis on the root causes in aggravating soil acidity under crop and grazing land use types.


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 602
Author(s):  
Ina Aneva ◽  
Petar Zhelev ◽  
Simeon Lukanov ◽  
Mariya Peneva ◽  
Kiril Vassilev ◽  
...  

Studies on the impact of agricultural practices on plant diversity provide important information for policy makers and the conservation of the environment. The aim of the present work was to evaluate wild plant diversity across the agroecosystems in two contrasting regions of Bulgaria; Pazardzhik-Plovdiv (representing agroecosystems in the lowlands) and Western Stara Planina (the Balkan Mountains, representing agroecosystems in the foothills of the mountains). This study conducted a two-year assessment of plant diversity in different types of agricultural and forest ecosystems, representing more than 30 land use types. Plant diversity, measured by species number, was affected by the land use type only in Pazardzhik-Plovdiv region. More pronounced was the effect of the groups of land use types on the diversity, measured by the mean species number per scoring plot. Climatic conditions, measured by 19 bioclimatic variables, were the most important factor affecting plant species diversity. Six bioclimatic variables had a significant effect on the plant diversity, and the effect was more pronounced when the analysis considered pooled data of the two regions. The highest plant diversity was found on grazing land with sparse tree cover, while the lowest one was in the land use types representing annual crops or fallow. The study also established a database on weed species, relevant to agriculture. A number of common weeds were found in the Pazardzhik-Plovdiv region, while the most frequent species in the Western Stara Planina region were indigenous ones. Overall, the natural flora of Western Stara Planina was more conserved; eleven orchid species with conservation significance were found in the pastures and meadows in that region. The present study is the first attempt in Bulgaria to characterize the plant diversity across diverse agroecosystems representing many different land use types and environmental conditions. The results can contribute to nature conservation, biodiversity, and the sustainable use of plant resources.


2013 ◽  
Vol 316-317 ◽  
pp. 245-249
Author(s):  
Fan Ying Meng ◽  
Zheng Hong Miao

on the basis of the measurement of ecological parameters by using remote sensing technology, combined with ecological method and Landsat–7 ETM +, we made a quantitative measurement of ecological assets of Sanjiang Plain in 2010, got the spatial distribution of ecological assets. The results show that: the value of ecological assets in Sanjiang Plain was 2.35 × 1012 yuan. The value was generally higher in the southern and lower in the northern parts of the study area. Baoqing has the highest sum value and Youyi has the lowest value than other areas. Forestlands have higher value of ecological assets than other land use types. Land use type may be the mainly reason for the spatial difference of ecological assets in Sanjiang Plain.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e10719
Author(s):  
Gregory Duncan Duckworth ◽  
Res Altwegg

Protected areas are one of the primary conservation tools used worldwide. However, they are often embedded in a landscape that is intensely used by people, such as for agriculture or urban development. The proximity of these land-use types to protected areas can potentially affect the ecological effectiveness (or conservation effectiveness) of protected areas. In this article, we examine to what degree adjacent agricultural and urban land uses affect the ecological effectiveness of protected areas over the greater Gauteng region of South Africa. We selected 198 common, resident bird species, and analysed detection/non-detection data for these species collected over regular grid cells (approximately 61 km2 in area). For each species, we estimated abundance per grid cell with the Royle-Nichols model in relation to the proportion of protected area as a covariate. Our study focused on how this relationship between proportion of protected area and abundance (which we term the ‘protection–abundance relationship’) changed as a function of other land-use types in the grid cell. Specifically, we examined the interaction effects between protected area and both urban and agricultural land-use type per grid cell on bird abundance. We assigned each species to one of seven guilds, namely: frugivores, gleaners, granivores, ground-feeders, hawkers, predators and vegivores, and examined how the protection–abundance relationship varied across guilds in relation to agriculture and urban area. As urban area within a grid cell increased, the protection–abundance relationship became more positive for 58% of all species. At the level of guilds, the protection–abundance relationship became more positive for two guilds (granivores and ground-feeders), more negative for frugivores, and remained unchanged for the other four guilds (gleaners, hawkers, predators and vegivores). As agricultural area within a grid cell increased, the protection–abundance relationship became more positive for 49% of all species. At the guild level, the protection–abundance relationship became more positive for six guilds (frugivores, gleaners, ground-feeders, hawkers, predators and vegivores) and remained unchanged for the granivores. Our results show land-use type near protected areas modified the effect protected areas had on bird abundances, and hence the ecological effectiveness of protected areas. Our results suggest that protected areas should be viewed as constituents within the landscape, rather than islands of protection.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Ogryzek ◽  
Radoslaw Wisniewski ◽  
Tom Kauko

Abstract The article takes a fresh look at the concept of the "optimal" use of urban land. It discusses the procedure for choosing the "optimal" use of land within the context of rational spatial management practices and sets out a model solution for determining "optimal" land use types for given spatial and functional situations. A necessary set of geoinformation for informed decisions on choosing the "optimal" land use type is proposed. The study adds to the available knowledge concerning spatial analyses and simulations of "optimal" zoning processes; in doing so it applies the characteristic matrix method for inducing the optimal use of an area to diagnose the value of urban space and, in this way, to determine the "optimal" use under given circumstances. The article concludes by stating that the algorithm for selecting the "optimal” land use of an area significantly improves the decision-making process when carrying out the transformation of land use - the most important instrument for planning optimisation and organisation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 467-473
Author(s):  
Ishtiaque Ahmed ◽  
Suleiman Abdulrahman ◽  
Mohd Rosli Hainin ◽  
Sitti Asmah Hassan

Transportation planners need to estimate the trip generations of different land use types in the travel demand forecasting process. The Trip Generation Manual of Malaysia, similar to the Trip Generation Manual of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, USA, provides the trip generation rate at “Polyclinics” as a function of the Gross Floor Area. However, the data for this rate have no line of best fit resulting in the lack of confidence in the prediction. This study considered ten locations in Malaysia and verified the significance of different parameters, i.e. Number of Doctors, Number of Staff, Gross Floor Area and Density of Similar Clinics within 0.5 kilometre radius in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The study developed regression equations for estimating the peak hours and daily trips at polyclinics in terms of “Number of Doctors”. The developed models can be used in estimating the number of trips generated by the polyclinics in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.


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